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One of the best ways to grow your photography is by working on a personal photography project. As a professional photographer, I am always working on personal projects. It’s a way to keep myself inspired, and to feel challenged to grow. It’s also a great way to keep my portfolio fresh, try out new ideas, and grow my vision as a photographer.
Shooting a place more than one time gives you the opportunity to capture the place in the perfect light. I had visited this part of the Oregon coast more than a dozen times before the perfect scene appeared.
In this article, I will share with you:
I define a personal photography project as choosing a subject to shoot over and over again over time. It can be as simple as shooting your kid’s sporting event every weekend, photographing an intriguing building near your home six times, or creating a series of portraits of your friends.
I photographed about 60 miles along the northern Oregon coast over a period of six months. I created a route that I drove whenever I could. By shooting the same place over and over again, I was able to truly capture the personality of the places.
Some photographers are reluctant to shoot the same subject over and over again, but by photographing it more than once, it gives you some great opportunities to grow as a photographer.
A different mood of Cannon Beach, Oregon.
A Project could look like this – Shoot City hall at:
Can you begin to see the many opportunities, and how to create different pictures of just one thing?
I was fascinated by this lone tree growing out of a huge rock near Garlibaldi, Oregon, but I wanted to get it with a beautiful sky.
It took many evenings of watching for the perfect sunset, but the photo was well worth it.
Once you nail the technical part of a situation, you can challenge yourself to do something really different. This is the point the great photos come in!
The great photos don’t come when you are trying to figure out how to focus your camera, use your flash, or what is the right exposure or camera angle. Once you’ve got all that nailed, the real creativity begins! That’s when the great pictures happen. Here’s an example:
This was my first glamour shoot. I just practiced finding the perfect window light in my studio. And, as a journalistic photographer, I rarely do any retouching, but this subject offered the opportunity to pull out some new retouching tools, and also reminded me to pose the subject in such a way to hide skin imperfections.
I fell in love with the work of a glamour photographer, Sue Bryce. She does beautiful work and doesn’t use studio lighting, she uses window light in a very sophisticated way. I decided to emulate her work by studying her technique. I had never studied glamour photography, so not only would the lighting be a challenge, but the posing would be too. Here’s what I did:
This was my second shoot. I practiced using a different kind of light, a little bit harder with more fill.
I also had the chance to work with posing and hands. It felt awkward to me, and I didn’t really get the subject to do what I wanted her to. It was time to go back to the mirror and practice with my own hands, then create language that would help my subject move into those poses.
This shoot went much better. I was learning, developing skills, having fun, and building my confidence in this new world of glamour photography.
By my fourth subject, I had learned how to direct my subject into a pose, and had a great feel for window light.
I had a few new pieces for my portfolio, not to mention a few happy friends with prints.
Let’s back up a few steps and review some of the ideas we’ve touched on so far.
The Capitol Building in Washington, DC is stunning at night, and I wanted to capture the full moon rising behind it. This was the sixth night I made a trip to the monument. Persistence paid off.
Several years ago, while living in Washington, DC, I chose to shoot the monuments with a full moon. Why was this a good project? Let’s look at the checklist above and compare
I loved having something on my calendar to shoot. It provided some structure, and gave me something to shoot for several months without having to come up with a new idea. And, now I have a beautiful collection of photograph for my portfolio.
This is the World War II Memorial in Washington, DC with the Washington Monument in the background. Committing to shoot a personal project is fun, rewarding, and builds your self-confidence.
Here are some ideas to get you started on your own personal project.
Shooting projects is an amazing way to grow your portfolio and your self-confidence. Do you have an idea for a project? Share it with me in the comment section below, I’d love to hear about it or see your images.